Container for gears or the like



Nov. 28, 1950 H. D. SUTPHEN CONTAINER FDR GEARS OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 24, 1945 yllilllwnn INVENTOR. when x wwwww :5 iafi x.

Jffia/zazaf i atenteci Nov. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER FOR GEARS OR THE LIKE iiarrynbn ii sfimiiieh, Chicago, iii, assignor to Russell W. Borrovv'dale, Chicago, 111.

Application January 24, 1945, Serial No. 574,328

3 Claims. 1

The inventionrelates to improvements in containers for gears or other precision articles, and has for its primary object the provision of an improved container of this character which is of simple construction and highly efficient in use.

Qther objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists of the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by ref erenceto the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a container em bodying the invention; U

Fig.2, a detailed section illustrating one of a plurality of spacer members employed in the construction and shown in position of use;

Fig. 3, a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the spacer member in inoperative position; and

Fig. 4, 'a perspective view of a modified form of construction of gear container.

The form of invention illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 comprises an open-work cubic metal frame consisting of a lower square base formed, as shown, of angle iron, and having vertically extending angle iron corner posts I! at the four corners thereof. The top of the container is formed of a square frame l2 secured, as shown, to the tops of the corner posts II, thereby completing an open-work metal container for the protection of precision gears or other similar articles. Metal floor bars I3 are extended obliquely across the four corners of the base ill and carry on their upper surfaces contact bars or strips I4 made of asbestos cement composition and constituting supports for the lowermost of a plurality of superimposed gears or other articles in said container, as indicated. Vertical metal strips or bars l5 are arranged medially of the four sides of the container frame and their inner faces are covered by contact strips N5 of said composition and whereby articles in said container will be held from lateral displacement therein. Metallic brackets I? are arranged, as indicated, in the four corners of the container frame to extend inwardly toward the edges of the articles therein, and spacer bars [8 are slideably mounted in openings la in the said brackets, said spacer bars being provided in their lower edges with notches 20 arranged to engage the lower edges of the openings Hi to hold the spacer bars IS in their extended operative positions. Springs 2| are connected with pins la in the outer ends of the bars I8 to retract the same when said notches are disengaged, and spacer bars I8 carry spacer (01. iii-1515') blocksit at their innerends, made of asbestos cement composition; and arranged to be inter-' posed between superimposed articles in said container to prevent injurious contact between them; Thepins li! serve as, stops to prevent displacement of the spacer bars [8 in case of the breaking of the springs 21-. g

In use; the spacer blocks 22,are all retracted and an article such asa gear, placed in said containeron the supportingcontacts M; ,then the lowermost set of spacer blocks. 22, are drawn inwardly andqover the rim of said gear and another gear or article placed thereon. This process is repeated until all of the spacer blocks 22 have been similarly employed and a pluralityof arti= cles thus superimposed in said container, but entirely supportedtherein upon and by contact members of asbestos cement composition, ,and

whereby injurious contact between said articles or with the supports in said container are absolutely prevented. By this arrangement a stable construction of steel or other metal may be provided and the articles perfectly protected from injury during further handling and treatment; the articles may be washed and cleaned with any desired fluids, water or oil, and heated as necessary for tempering purposes; the articles are readily accessible to hot air, thus insuring proper draw and thereby reducing grinding cracks. Stains and rust are completely eliminated. Scratches and nicks from chips are avoided because said chips cannot become imbedded in the contact material, and contact between the articles is absolutely prevented; the material employed is fireproof and of low absorbing qualities, so that there will be very little smoke when the articles are subjected to drying or drawing operations; the container may be stored either under or exposed to the weather; the containers may be readily piled one on top of the other without injury to the contained articles; the articles in each container are visible and therefore may be readily counted and inventoried; containers may be used for ship-ping from factory to purchasers; the use of fireproof material in the container greatly lessens danger from fire; and the light weight of the containers facilitates handling thereof. The specific form and arrangement of parts disclosed is a simple and effective one for the purpose.

In the modified form of construction illustrated in Fig. 4, the container is made in the form of an open-work metal rectangular frame 23 with suitable supporting metal bars 24 and 25 therein, as indicated.

Wherever the gears or articles contact with the supports, the same are covered with strips or blocks 27, 28, 29 and 26 of asbestos cement composition and thereby injury to the gears during handling is avoided, and gears of different forms may be handled.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred forms of construction for carrying the invention into effect, these are capable of variation and modification Without departing from the spirit of the invention. I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details disclosed, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A gear container of the class described comprising a rectangular frame; oblique floor bars extending across the bottom of said frame at the four corners thereof; members on said floor bars adapted to contact directly with an article supported thereby; vertical supporting brackets connected to the four corners of said frame; spacer members slidably mounted in said brackets, each carrying intervening contact members and adapted to be moved to a position between the superimposed articles; spring means normally biased to retract said spacer members from such interposed positions; and means for automatically locking said spacer members in their extended operative positions.

2. The construction specified in claim 1 in which the intervening contact members are carried by metallic bars sliding through openings in said brackets and notched in their lower edges 35 to engage the lower edges of said openings, each bar having a stop at its outer end to prevent displacement from its respective opening.

3. A container of the class described comprising a rectangular base formed of angle bars, each arranged to rest on one of its edges; an angle bar post arranged vertically at each corner of said base; flat bars forming center posts arranged on said base in spaced and parallel relation with said corner posts; a flat bar rectangular frame attached around the upper end of each of said posts; vertical supporting brackets arranged to project inwardly from each corner post; metal floor bars arranged across each corner of said base inwardly of said supporting brackets; and protective facings arranged on the upper side of each floor bar and on the inner face of said flat bars forming center posts.

H. DONALD SUTPHEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 124,085 Richmond Feb. 27, 1872 233,340 Fithian Oct. 19, 1880 805,073 Kellogg Nov. 21, 1905 1,133,598 Winslow Mar. 30, 1915 1,380,020 Riegel May 31, 1921 1,549,577 Lefkowitz Aug. 11, 1925 1,867,611 Borrman'n July 19, 1932 2,062,948 Swank et a1. Dec. 1, 1936 2,087,864 Tovell July 20, 1937 2,246,448 Mahan, Jr. June 17, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 204,603 Great Britain Oct. 4, 1923 

